


Red River Valley

by lionfjsh



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Western, Angst, Light Angst, M/M, haha yeehaw boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 11:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19108690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionfjsh/pseuds/lionfjsh
Summary: Just remember the Red River ValleyAnd the cowboy that's loved you so true





	Red River Valley

“So?  How are you holding up?”

Ouma looked up from the glass he was absentmindedly spinning around to see Amami taking the chair across from him at his table in the local saloon.  He looked solemn and wary, as if he were informing Ouma that he had a terminal illness.  Even as he settled into his chair, he didn’t look relaxed. His shoulders were tense, eyebrows furrowed.  It looked like he was about to jump out of his seat at any moment.

“Uh…  Good?” Ouma said.  He raised an eyebrow, staring at Amami confusedly.  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Amami’s gaze snapped up from the table to Ouma’s face.  His eyes widened slightly as he took in his words.

“You mean…  You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?” Ouma demanded.  He frowned.  He didn’t like when things were kept from him and him only.  He knew most of the town didn’t trust him, but it always felt like a real blow to the gut anyways.  “Spit it out, Green Bean!”

With a sigh, Amami sank back into his chair.  “Saihara is leaving town tonight,” he said quietly.  He watched closely as Ouma’s face remained absolutely stoic.  While his expression didn’t give any of his thoughts away, Amami could tell that his friend’s mind was racing at a million miles a minute.

“W-What’s your point?” Ouma stuttered.  “He leaves town all the time. It’s no big deal.”  He _knew_ what Amami meant.   _Of course_ he knew what Amami meant.  But it felt like his whole world was shattering right before his eyes, and he didn’t want to accept that.

“Kokichi, don’t make this harder on yourself,” Amami said softly.  He leaned forward in his chair, closer to Ouma.  He wanted to place a hand on his shoulder, offer him a comforting pat on the back, but he knew Ouma would lash out at him if he did so.

“No, that can’t be true,” Ouma choked out.  His head was swimming.  How could Saihara just… up and leave?  He was adored in Red River Valley.  He’d grown up there. He and Ouma had been close since they were kids.  He was polite and handsome and selfless and smart… He was the star of the town.  So why…?  Why would he want to leave?

“He’s not coming back.”

The words felt like an arrow right through Ouma’s heart.  He couldn’t breathe.  He couldn’t think.  All he could do was stare at the table in silence as Amami shifted his gaze to the wall.  It felt like he was shutting down.

They had been best friends since Saihara had moved to Red River Valley when he was seven.  They’d been inseparable for nearly twenty years.  Saihara had been there for his first day of school.  The first time he’d shot a gun.  The first time he rode a horse.  When his parents died.  He’d been there for _everything_.

And he just… wouldn’t be anymore?

Saihara had shown him kindness when nobody else would.  Ouma was always the problem child, getting into things he shouldn’t and tormenting his peers.  But something had drawn the two together from the day they’d met, and suddenly Ouma had his first friend.  His… only friend, until Amami came along a few years later.

The other kids loved Saihara as well.  Especially that damned overzealous Momota.  He’d try to get Saihara to leave Ouma behind, saying that he was nothing more than a pain and an annoyance.  If Saihara continued to be friends with him, he’d just end up hurt.  But Saihara ignored Momota’s words.  And Ouma knew that when all was said and done, Saihara would put him first.

Ouma _loved_ Saihara.  Loved him more than anything in the world.  And he thought Saihara loved him too.  He never said it, no matter how many times Ouma would, but it didn’t need to be said.  He just knew.  Or at least, he thought he did.  Would Saihara really just leave him like that if he loved him…?  Without even saying a word about it?

“I have to go,” Ouma breathed, standing up from the table suddenly.  He looked pale, his gaze blank.

“H-Hey, wait-!”  Amami reached out to grab Ouma’s arm, but the boy was too quick.  He’d bolted out the swinging doors before Amami could even hope to catch him.  He sighed, sinking back down into his chair.

Ouma ran straight for his room in the inn.  He wanted to find Saihara.  To demand answers.  Why was he leaving?  Why didn’t he tell him? How long had he been planning this?  Had everybody known for ages?   _Didn’t he love him?_

He cried out, slamming his head against the wall.  Every emotion in him felt like it was tearing out of his chest.  Grief and anger were tightening around his throat like a noose, suffocating him as he finally gave in and began to sob, sinking down to the floor against the wall.

The crying subsided quickly, and Ouma chastised himself for being so emotional.  It wasn’t like him and he didn’t like it.  However, it was hours before Ouma worked up the motivation to move from the floor.  When he finally gathered the strength to pull himself up, it was evening.  Time to get dinner, probably, but there was no way he’d be able to stomach it.

Ouma had thought long and hard about what he wanted to do.  He _wanted_ to beg Saihara to stay.  He wanted to ask him every question that ran through his mind.  To cling to him and whine like a toddler.  To remind him of everything they had been through.  But ultimately, he decided to do one thing.  He knew it might be self destructive, but in the moment, he didn’t care.

Grabbing a pen and a small piece of paper, Ouma began scribbling out a short note.

> _If you love me, come be by my side for just one more night._

 

* * *

 

Ouma curled up on his bed and watched the clock tick by every single second after he’d slipped the note under Saihara’s door.  The anxiety was eating him alive, and he couldn’t bear to do anything else.  Would Saihara leave while it was still light?  Would he leave at the witching hour?  He didn’t know how long he’d have to wait, but he couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away.

The hours dragged on as the sky turned from dazzling shades of orange and red into a deep midnight blue.  As eight became nine became ten became eleven, Ouma could feel his fear rising.  What if Saihara had left already?  What if he was gone forever, and Ouma didn’t even get to say goodbye?  He hadn’t shown up, did that mean he really didn’t love him after all?

He was just on the brink of a breakdown when he heard a horse whinny.  Eyes shooting wide, he sprang off his bed and threw open his door, sprinting down the hallway like a madman to get outside.  He couldn’t miss Saihara.  He _had_ to see him.  He knew that meant Saihara was planning on leaving without seeing him, but Ouma wasn’t going to let him do that.

He burst out the door just as Saihara was climbing up onto his horse at the edge of town.  He sat tall and confident, silhouetted in the light of the moon.  Ouma froze for a moment, taken over by the shock of seeing it all happening before his eyes.  Saihara… really was leaving.  He really was going to ride off without him.  Without telling him or explaining himself or… Or saying…

“SHUICHI!”

Saihara stiffened, hesitating for a moment before turning around slowly, seeing Ouma bathed in the light of the nearby buildings and looking absolutely distraught.  His heart broke as he saw him, his hair mussed up and his hands shaking.  He rarely used his actual given name to address him, so he must have been particularly distressed.  Guilt crawled up his back as he carefully dismounted his horse again, meeting Ouma a few steps away as he sprinted towards him.

Ouma slammed into Saihara, flinging his arms around him tightly.  Saihara sighed, wrapping his arms around the shorter boy as well.  It pained him knowing that it would be the last time he ever felt that.  It would be the last time he ever got to hold Ouma, feel the beat of his heart, breathe in his familiar scent.

Knowing that Ouma had waited up all that time in hopes that he’d come to his room…  It killed him.  His chest ached.  But he couldn’t have gone.  If he’d stayed the night with him… he’d never leave.  And he had to.  He just _had_ to.  Red River Valley was killing him.  He needed to go out, be free, ride with the wind on the back of his horse.  Being tethered to the small town was draining the life out of him.

“You can’t leave, you moron,” Ouma hissed.  He was trying to sound intimidating, but the way his arms tightened around him and his voice quavered let Saihara know that he wasn’t nearly as confident as he let on.

“I’m sorry, Kokichi…”

“Why?!” Ouma demanded, pulling back.  “Why are you leaving this town?!”  He took a shaky breath, trying to get his nerves under control.  He was so close to losing it. “Why are you leaving _me?_ ” he added quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Saihara said again.  He sounded meek.  He knew it was awful to say nothing but ‘I’m sorry’, but he couldn’t think of anything he could possibly say that would justify it to Ouma.

“I don’t want your apologies,” Ouma sighed.  “I just… I thought you cared about me…”  He averted his gaze, looking down at the ground.  He was embarrassed.  Ashamed.  He didn’t like being so vulnerable.  But he was _hurting_.

“I _do_ care about you, Kokichi,” Saihara assured him, resting a hand on his cheek and tilting Ouma’s head up so their eyes could meet again.  “I care about you so much.  But I can’t stay here.  I feel like I’m choking.  Dying.  I need to get out.”  He didn’t offer to take Ouma with him.  He knew that forcing him to choose between his best friend and his home was far too cruel.

“There’s no changing your mind?”  Ouma’s voice was small.  Weak.  He wanted to be selfish.  To demand that Saihara stay there.  To kick and scream and throw a tantrum even though he was nearly twenty five years old.  He wanted to steal the handcuffs out of Momota’s office and chain Saihara to himself so he couldn’t disappear.

But for once, Ouma couldn’t bring himself to be a selfish bastard.

“I’m sorry, but no,” Saihara told him.

Ouma closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to keep from showing too much emotion.  He had to hold it together.  In the end, he wanted Saihara to be happy.  And if that happiness came from leaving Red River Valley - leaving _him_ \- then so be it.  He didn’t want to deter him.

“I have one request,” Ouma said quietly.

“Anything.”

“Just remember Red River Valley,” Ouma told him, his voice barely audible over the light summer breeze blowing through the town.  “Remember _me_.”

“Always.”  Saihara gently brushed a stray hair out of Ouma’s face, looking down at him fondly.  When Ouma met his gaze, he noticed the tears pooling up in his eyes.

“I love you,” Ouma blurted.  Saihara’s heart clenched.

“I know.”  He turned away from him, planning on getting back on his horse and getting out of there before his feelings kept him rooted in place.  But before he could do so, Ouma called out to him again.

“Wait!” he cried.  He grabbed Saihara’s hand tightly.  He looked frantic. “Please… I need to hear it.  Just one time before you go…”  His eyes were pleading.  “Shuichi… Do you love me?”

Saihara had to bite back tears of his own as the question left Ouma’s lips.   _Of course_ he loved him.  He loved him more than anyone else.  But to say that to him… felt too painful.  It would be easier for both of them if he didn’t indulge him.

Instead, he leaned forward, cupping Ouma’s cheek again and capturing his lips in a kiss.  It was desperate, longing, something they’d both been wanting for years.  Tinged with the sadness of knowing it would be their first and last.

When they broke apart, Saihara gave Ouma one last sad smile before he turned around quickly and got on his horse.  If Ouma tried tried to stop him again, he knew he wouldn’t be strong enough to say no.  He hesitated before he set out, turning back to look down at his best friend.

“Goodbye, Kokichi.”

Ouma watched as Saihara turned around again and signaled for his horse to get going.  He remained, unmoving, unblinking, as Saihara disappeared into the distance.  Until he had ridden off into the night where he couldn’t see anymore.  Not once had he looked back again.

He knew it was for the best.  Saihara would be happier following his heart.  Ouma didn’t want him to stay if it meant he was going to be miserable.  If you love something, set it free…  Right?  But it didn’t feel right.  It felt like Saihara had reached right into his chest and ripped his heart out, taking it with him as he rode away.

Numbness took over Ouma’s body.  His last desperate plea to Saihara…  The kiss had said it all, but it wasn’t enough.  Sometimes the things left unsaid… the obvious words… were just the things people needed to be told.  He had needed Saihara to say those sweet words he’d longed to hear for so long.

As he watched his life’s love disappear into the starlight, Ouma’s heart had shattered.

“Goodbye, Shuichi.”

 

* * *

 

_From this valley they say you are leaving_

_We shall miss your bright eyes and sweet smile_

_For you take with you all of the sunshine_

_That has brightened our pathway a while_

 

_Then come sit by my side if you love me_

_Do not hasten to bid me adieu_

_Just remember the Red River Valley_

_And the cowboy that's loved you so true_

 

_For a long time, my darlin', I've waited_

_For the sweet words you never would say_

_Now at last all my fond hopes have vanished_

_For they say that you're going away_

 

_Then come sit by my side if you love me_

_Do not hasten to bid me adieu_

_Just remember the Red River Valley_

_And the cowboy that's loved you so true_

 


End file.
